A long and wet 17 miles this morning.....

This morning I headed out early (6:30am!) for my long run as I wanted to get it completed without impacting the rest of the day for the family. So, off I ventured into a dark, misty and wet morning which really didn't get that much better for the whole 17.24 miles; well OK it got a little lighter but that was about it. I think the perfect description of my run today is that it was 'horrible and good all at the same time'. The horrible part was the wet weather which meant that after about 30 minutes into my run I was soaked through to my skin (which isn't a nice way to run) and then the cold that soon followed....the good is the fact that I covered 17.24 miles (I set out with 17 miles as my target) and it feels great to have accomplished this distance today. Also, it's good as it shows me that I can deal with the challenges that I am faced with...there is no doubt that on many occasions throughout my run today I questioned myself on what I was doing but each time I kept reminding myself that marathon training is hard and that to succeed I need to be strong both mentally and physically and today without any doubt I trained both these elements!

Also today saw me completing 116 miles in total for February - I am very pleased with this :-)

A good lunchtime run, with some fast intervals

I did a good solid run this lunchtime; incorporating some fast interval sessions during the middle of the run and the whole run was made extra challenging by the windy weather conditions! It was however nice to add some speed and has made me realise that I need to try to incorporate more speed sessions into my weekly training.

A wonderful way to spend a lunchtime :-)

A great 10½ mile run after work

This evening my friend and I ventured out straight after work with the intention of running part of the MK Half Marathon route (in preparation for the race on the 7th March, which we are both running in) and I’m pleased to report that we not only managed to complete what we set out to do, but we both felt really strong at the finish.

Tomorrow is a rest day for me and then I intend to run 3-4 miles on Friday lunchtime – perhaps doing a few fast intervals!! Then its cross-training on Saturday and my long run on Sunday (17 miles this week!)

A really good week of running….

….finished off nicely with a steady 15½ mile long run today! and thanks to everyone running with CYM this morning for doing the first 4 miles with me :-)

This week has been a really strong running week for me, seeing me run 5 out of the 7 days and totalling 37 miles. The defining point though was today’s long run where I still felt strong after 15½ miles; this was very satisfying and encouraging!

The following is a summary of my runs this week:

Monday 15th: 3M pace run
Tuesday 16th: 5M steady
Wednesday 17th: 10.5 steady
Thursday 18th: Rest day
Friday 19th: Rest day
Saturday 20th: 3M easy
Sunday 21st: 15.5M long

Happy running everyone :-)

A good 5 miles along the canal broadway and parts of the Millennium circular route (route 51)

It was nice to head out this morning without a route in mind. I started from Newlands and headed up towards the canal and then in to Campbell Park, following the Millennium circular route (route 51) most of the time. I then did my final two miles along the canal before heading back to Newlands and finding something I never knew existed behind the car park in Newlands: the cathedral of trees. (Information on the cathedral of trees can be found at the Parks Trust website: http://www.mkweb.co.uk/parks-trust/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=33114=33114). I will definitely be going back here with my camera when the weather is better.

It was good run this morning; not fast and not that long but steady. I am hoping to do a longer run (hopefully 10 miles) tomorrow after work so I thought I shouldn't push myself too much today.

I must admit that until recently I haven't done much running along side the canal but recently I have had the opportunity and I really do enjoy it. There is something quite peaceful about it, made better when you see a barge moving along the waterways. The smell this morning of the log burning fires on the barges moored at Campbell Park was lovely. The names of some of the barges are quite fun too. There is a lovely painted one, moored this morning at Campbell Park, named 'Paris' and another one called 'Violet Clare 2' but my favourite one that I saw this morning was a double width barge called 'Moose Drool'!

A good solid 7 mile run with a couple of fast miles in the middle!

I was supposed to do a six mile run with some faster ‘surges’ yesterday but yesterday the day ran away with me and I just didn’t get the time. So instead I swapped yesterday and today around and did the run this morning. I also did a mile more than I was scheduled, not really because I wanted to but just because I had to as I was still a mile away from home when my watch chimed 6 miles!Although today hasn’t been a very nice day (weather wise) this morning when I was out it was perfect running weather.

My route today took me through Ouzel Valley Park and onto Willen Lake. I did one lap of the smaller lake before heading home back through the park. I also upped my pace for the Willen Lake lap and pushed myself to under 8 minute miles for two miles; it was tough as around the lake there always seems to be a head wind (how does that work!) but it was rewarding to see the fast mile times on my watch. In fact all my mile times today were under 9 minute/miles so this is very pleasing! My aim is to get my average minute/mile time for long/easy runs to around 8 ½ in time for the marathon.

So, I am very pleased with today’s run and I am looking forward to my long run tomorrow. My aim tomorrow is to head out at about 9am and do an hour of running before I meet up with my CYM running group. I will do another 3 to 4 miles with them and then I aim to run home again via the canal to hopefully complete a total of 14 miles.............watch this space!

P.S. Thank you to everyone at work who has sponsored me so far (Bev, Andy, David, Ruth, Jamie, Julian and Paul); CYM and I really appreciate your support. Cheers guys :-)

My JustGiving fund raising page

My JustGiving fund raising page is now live and ready to take all of your wonderful and much appreciated donations!! The page can be found here: http://www.justgiving.com/Charlotte-Dutch

As many of you already know, this will be my 4th London Marathon (and probably my last!) but I do intend to enjoy it and to raise as much money as I can for my charity.

My charity is called Climb Your Mountain (CYM). CYM is a unique and innovative charity based in Milton Keynes that helps people to climb the personal mountains that they face in life, whether it be depression, stress, anxiety, low confidence or low self-esteem. CYM offers support, training, motivation and opportunities to prevent, deal with and overcome issues. CYM does this by focusing on exercise and inspiring physical activities.

I would really appreciate it if you would help me with my challenge by sponsoring me; no amount is too small or too large!

Thanks everyone :-)

P.S. Although I say it will be my last London Marathon, it isn't necessarily going to be my last marathon: I have aims (some time in the future) to run a few European marathons and maybe even New York and Boston one day! However for the very near future (after London) I will be concentrating on my favourite running distance 'the half marathon'! :-)

A great weekend of running, which rounds off a great week of running!

I have had a great weekend of running this weekend. I didn't venture out for my 6 mile run on Friday (I wasn't feeling 100% all day) so instead I decided to do a shorter run yesterday (4 miles) and included some hill reps; it worked out well and I felt strong on the hills (which is good news as I have been trying to do more hill work during the week so may be this is a sign that it is paying off!).

Then today I joined up with Jane and others from CYM to take part in the Parks Trust 10k run which set off from Great Linford, near the Manor. It was a great run and it was really nice to run with Jane...I then set off to run home along the Canal Broadway which added just over another 10k to my training today so a good solid 12 miles of running in total with some faster average miles than I have been doing in my longer runs, so I am very pleased with this.

Today's 12 miles sees me completing just under 30 miles this week with lots of variation and enjoyment :-)

The Parks Trust runs are held each month (the first Sunday in each month) and they set off from different places around Milton Keynes each month. They normally have three distances to choose from (2k, 5k and 10k mostly). They are informal, you don't have to sign up beforehand you can just turn up and decide on the day how far you want to run. If you are interested the details are on there website HERE!

Next week I am scheduled to do the following:

Monday: Rest or 5M easy, off-road
Tuesday: Warm up, 3 x 10 mins @ 1/2 marathon pace, with 4-min recoveries
Wednesday: 8-10M, easy/steady
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 6M steady with a few surges
Saturday: Warm-up, 3M at a brisk pace, warm-down
Sunday: 13M easy

Have a good week everyone :-)

10 miles after work....

This evening I did a 'good' run (well it felt good to complete it; it wasn't that great during it as I felt very tired!) but the good news is 'I did it' and its another good run under my belt and it means that so far this week I have managed to stay on top of my training plan. Tomorrow is a rest day and then hopefully on Friday I will get to do a steady 6 miles with a few speed bursts...

P.S. My apologies for not posting over the past few weeks - things have been rather busy so unfortunately my blog has had to take a back seat! However from now on I will endeavour to blog at least every couple of days to keep you all posted on my training 'highs and lows'!